I absolutely love pancakes and this recipe is one that I have been using for many years now and produces lovely thin pancakes more like crêpes. (See previous post on mini pancakes for smaller thicker ones). There is no sugar added to this batter so they can be used for sweet or savoury fillings. If there is anything ever to ‘dislike’ about Pancake Tuesday it is having to stand over the hob making a load of them! This can be a bit of an endurance test (even more so after a day’s work!) as in my house this means making at least 20 pancakes, allowing 5 for each person. Having learnt the hard way I now make the batter the night before and if I have time I make some of the pancakes then as well to prevent things getting ugly because pancakes are being eaten quicker than I can make them! It also means that I can get to enjoy some myself (not totally unreasonable I don’t think!). Serve them with the traditional sugar/honey or golden syrup with lemon wedges, chocolate spread, jam, strawberries and chocolate sauce. The possibilities are endless. Yum!

Tip: – always keep one non-stick frying pan just for making pancakes, omelettes etc. You will also need a wooden spatula.

The quantity below makes approximately 24 pancakes using a 24cm non-stick frying pan (a smaller pan will make more) – you can scale it down if you wish e.g. divide everything by 3

Ingredients

300g plain flour
good pinch of salt
3 eggs
900mls milk
Olive oil or vegetable oil

• Sieve the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
• Add the eggs and beat well
• Add the milk a little at a time, beating continually with a wire whisk or an electric mixer until all the liquid is combined. If the mixture is lumpy just pass it through a sieve ( I nearly always have to do this!)
• Pour a little oil on to a crumpled piece of kitchen paper and wipe a thin film of oil on the surface of the frying pan.
• Place the pan on a high heat and when it is quite hot pour in enough batter to form a thin film over the bottom of the pan, tilting the pan to allow the mixture to cover the surface evenly. (I use a soup ladle about ¾ full as a measure.) If holes appear in the batter just fill them with a small drop of batter.
• Cook for about 1 minute, or until the underside of the pancake is golden brown.
• Flip the pancake over using a wooden spatula and cook for a further minute.
• Adjust the heat if the pan gets too hot.
• Continue to make the rest of the pancakes in the same way (or get people to make their own) keeping the cooked pancakes hot in a warm oven.

Note – it usually takes one or two pancakes to get the hang of it so certainly for me the first two pancakes are usually a bit less than perfect (i.e. very messy) so I just have to eat them!

If you want to make these in advance place a piece of greaseproof paper between each pancake and wrap in foil.

Bon Appetit!